The Nonpareil. 181 



call it le Pope, from its gorgeous attire no doubt, and the 

 Germans der Papstfinh, perhaps for the same reason. 



Like the Indigo bird, the Nonpareil is a tolerable songster, 

 an.d -will survive our vnnters in a -weU-sheltered out-door 

 aviary; in -which situation it wiU be more Ktely to breed and 

 retain the brilliancy of its coat of many colours, than if kept 

 in the house. 



The young, if any should be hatched, will stand more 

 chance of being reared if they are taken away as soon as 

 possible, and brought up by hand, as recommended for the 

 young of the Indigo Bunting, than if left to the tender mercies 

 of their parents, who would probably desert them before they 

 were fledged, or brain them as soon as they commenced to 

 fly about. 



A good plan to obtain a constant supply of gentles for the 

 use of insect-eating birds during the winter months, is to 

 hang a paunch, sheep's or buUock's, toward the end of autumn 

 in an out-house, taking care to place just beneath it a large 

 flat box, about four or five inches deep, and filled with fine 

 dry sand, or weU-sifted ashes, to within about an inch of 

 the top; the paunch will very soon be filled with millions 

 of maggots, which will feed and thrive on the inner parts, 

 while the outside, drying in the air, will give off no offensive 

 odour, and the larvse, as soon as they have finished feeding, 

 will drop from it and bury themselves in the sand or ashes, 

 in order to undergo their transformation into the pupal stage. 



As soon as the whole colony has buried itself, the box 

 must be removed into a cool cellar, where the pupae will 

 remain quiescent aU through the winter, and far into the 

 spring, and in the meantime a few handfals of the earth of 

 ashes, scattered lightly over the floor of the aviary every 

 morning, will serve to keep the insectivorous birds in it 

 healthily employed for an hour or two each day in picking 

 up the grubs. 



Another good plan to secure a supply of insect food, is to 



